CAPPA Canada Board of Directors

Sonya Duffee CLD.  I'm very excited to be a part of this organization and getting to know each and every one of you.  I am a mother of two daughters, 8 and 10 years of age who were born at home with midwives. Currently I home educate them both and have been working as a midwife in Regina Saskatchewan since 2002.  I am also Director of a non profit organization which I initiated with a sister organization called The Friends of the Midwives. It was created to provide information, support and education on family centered maternity care options promoting Midwives and Doulas, called the Family Room. On top of that, I am also taking my Masters of Science in Midwifery through the Utah College of Midwives and sit on the board of advisors for the Canadian Doula Association.  I am very excited about this group and can't wait to get started.

Carolyn Thompson RN, CCCE, CLD, CRT, CN, CLD, CPD is a CAPPA approved Childbirth Educator Trainer, Labour doula Trainer and Postpartum Doula Trainer.  She has worked in the nursing field for over 15 years and has been involved with training development and teaching for over 10 years.  Carolyn serves as the current Executive Director of CAPPA Canada and has served as Past Vice- President of Doula CARE Inc., a Doula organization for Central and Eastern Canada. She is the founder and coordinator of the Military Family Centre Doula Program and actively volunteers in her community.  Carolyn is certified in Perinatal Nursing and Nutrition.  She teaches childbirth education, breastfeeding, early child development, newborn care and First Aid/CPR.  She speaks French and is continuing her French language training.  Carolyn also teaches Prenatal Classes through her local Public Health Unit.  She provides nursing care, massage/reflexology, nutrition counseling and Doula Services. She, with her husband David, happily parent their two children, Caleb and Sarah.

Nadine Britton CBEd., CD, CPDT   Nadine is a certified birth doula, postpartum doula and childbirth educator that has been working with birthing families since 1997.  Her previous life as the co-coordinator of a fertility clinic showed her compassion for working with women, which just naturally turned to support during the birthing process and immediate postpartum time.  She teaches prenatal classes with Sheridan College, and is combining all of these loves by training doulas. She has been on the board of directors for Doula C.A.R.E. Inc. since 1998, currently as a past president.  Her own company is TLC by Nadine, as she says, “that’s what I do”. She is married, the mother of three grown children, and proud grandmother of three + grandchildren.

Attie Sandink RN, IBLC, CLD

Attie Sandink is a CAPPA Canada Lactation Trainer. Attie has been a Registered Nurse for 35 years. She has worked in many areas of the hospital and community and as a Labour and Delivery Nurse, volunteer labour coach for unwed moms and involved in Prenatal Education for the past 30 years, initially teaching clients in the London area, with many First Nations Families. After becoming an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant in 1991 she was instrumental in setting up a Breastfeeding Clinic in her area 10 years ago and teaching many courses and workshops pertaining to Breastfeeding. She began in 1992 by teaching the 18 Hour WHO/UNICEF Lactation Management Course both privately, through several area hospitals, INFACT Canada and acted as a Facilitator for several training sessions with the Quintessence Foundation and has presented workshops for both the LLL Canada and The National Breastfeeding Conference in Toronto.

Her volunteer involvements include being a past Board and organizational member of a Christian counselling and adoption agency in Hamilton Ontario. However it is her own private practice as a Prenatal Instructor and Breastfeeding Consultant through “Breastfeeding and Prenatal Support Services” that keeps her grounded in the reality of working with the people that really count; the new families. The individuals that really keep her on track though are the men in her life. They are her husband and her 4 sons, who, as they are going to college and university, feel that they know more than her and they probably do.

Virginia Collins CCE, CAD, CSW, is a CAPPA approved Antepartum Doula Trainer and a Childbirth Educator. She has worked in the healthcare field for over 23 years and has been involved with teaching and group facilitation for the past six years. She has also been an active doula since 1999, and has worked with the Childbirth and Family Life Department at Sunnybrook and Women’s College Health Sciences Centre, as an educator for the last three years. In 1999 She became a group facilitator for Perinatal Bereavement Services of Ontario, and in 2001 she co-founded their Subsequent Pregnancy Support Group currently running in Toronto’s west end. Currently she is the Director of Antepartum Program for CAPPA Canada. She has spent the last ten year as assistant to Dr. Jon Barrett, Chief of Maternal Fetal Medicine and Director of the Multiples Clinic at Sunnybrook and Women’s Health Sciences Centre. Virginia is also the owner of the “Childbirth Experience” specializing in providing support for higher risk pregnancies and perinatal loss.  She is also the proud mother of two mostly grown sons, Matthew and Alexander, and the incredibly supported wife of Dave, with whom she enjoys an ongoing life adventure.  

Merle Ling RN, CCCE is a CAPPA certified childbirth Trainer, Educator and a certified Labor Doula for DONA International. She is a member of Doula Care and volunteers for non - profit organizations in Burlington Ontario. Merle was born in Trinidad, W.I. where she started her career as a nurse. Merle has worked in obstetrical nursing for over 25 years as a labour and delivery, postpartum and neonatal nurse; the experience gained by working with new parents and their families and as a mentor to student nurses and new staff has been helpful in a successful career as a childbirth educator. She has earned the respect of her co-workers and medical practitioners. Merle is the owner and founder of a very successful independent business called Childbirth Basics& Beyond, that provides prenatal education, labour Doula services and breastfeeding support. Merle lives in Burlington Ontario with her very supportive husband; she is the proud mother of three adults and has two beautiful grand daughters Kalysha and Kiylana.